


Marked

by wynnebat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23900566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/pseuds/wynnebat
Summary: Lily’s wand is pressed against Regulus’s throat when he finally says, “I’m willing to have a rational discussion about this now.”
Relationships: Regulus Black/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 342





	Marked

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ellory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellory/gifts).



> Valentine's Day 2020 ficlet. Prompted by elloryia.

Lily’s wand is pressed against Regulus’s throat when he finally says, “I’m willing to have a rational discussion about this now.”

“Oh, now you are,” she says, her lips tight. “After you accused me of lying, then tried to hex me?”

She throws Regulus’s wand into his face. He catches it gracefully, the bastard, then she lifts her own wand from his throat. He looks better lying on the grass of the Hogwarts lawn than he does when she passes him in the corridors, and not just because winning a duel is intensely satisfying to that part of her that caused the hat to yell Gryffindor. He looks alive like this, fresh from a duel, cheeks with a dusting of red. Better than the cold and unfeeling persona he usually puts up.

“I wasn’t trying to hex you,” Regulus replies, but he doesn’t come up with a better excuse. Once on his feet, he casts a spell to clean his robes from the mud and grass sticking to them. Lily has seen Sirius do the same thing dozens of times. She should have realized fastidiousness about clothing is a family trait. “What makes you think we have the same mark? You’ve never seen mine.”

“Sirius saw mine by accident three days ago. He wouldn’t say anything, but he looked like a ghost at the sight of it and I know it’s not his mark that mine matches. I think it’s yours.” Lily lifts the sleeve of her Hogwarts robes to reveal the skin of her wrist.

She’s never seen the merit of keeping her mark covered except for propriety’s sake. It’s beautiful, all lilies and stars, and she will love it even if Regulus doesn’t. Even if he doesn’t love her. She’s bearing her very soul to him. To her eyes, it’s gorgeous, something that she’s never once hesitated to admire. Even on bad hair days and with spots appearing on her skin, she could turn to her mark and find comfort in its design.

To Regulus’s eyes, it must be something so very different. Especially now.

She watches him stare at it in silence.

Swallowing, Regulus faces her again. He is quiet for a long moment. Long enough that Lily’s hopes, not that she would admit to having many, falter at the sight of his conflicted gray eyes.

“Were you disappointed when you decided it must be me?” Regulus asks.

“No. I don’t know you, not really,” Lily admits. “But I’d like to.”

“I would, too.” It’s not a confession of feelings—there are none to confess, not yet, on either of their sides—but it’s something. “I know you have a deft wand hand and a stellar academic record. And I know that Sirius considers you a friend.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Both,” Regulus admits, a slight smile building at the corner of his lips. “I’m not ready to claim you as my soulmate. I don’t— I need to find a way for this make sense in my head first. And to work on arguments that will sway my mother.”

“I’ll help you with that,” Lily offers.

“Then I’ll change my prefect rounds to match yours.”

 _He’s so sneaky,_ Lily thinks, with something like affection. It’s surprisingly easy to imagine herself falling in love with him—a Slytherin, a Black, and the thing that matters most of all, her soulmate. “Good thinking.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm also on [tumblr](https://wynnefic.tumblr.com/).


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